OMV Petrom had after nine months a net profit of 991 million lei (223.1 million euros), down by 59% compared to the same period last year, and losses in the third quarter, the sales being down in January-September by 16% to 13.62 billion lei (3.06 billion euros), writes Mediafax.

In the period from July to September the company had losses of 46 million lei, compared to a profit of 691 million lei in the previous three months and a gain of 1.02 billion lei in the same period of 2014. In the third quarter The company had sales of 4.81 billion lei, lower by 12%.

“In the first nine months of 2015, the financial performance of the Group was severely affected by the decrease of approximately 50% of the crude oil prices compared to the same period last year. In a market environment with low prices of crude that could maintain for some time, I decided to reduce our estimates of the future price of oil, which caused impairment of certain assets in the Upstream segment. The negative effect of Upstream was only partially offset by the good results of the Downstream, due to our integrated business model and sustained by the margins of the improved refining, and product demand increased,” said General Manager, Mariana Gheorghe.

OMV Petrom continued to limit capital expenditure and operational costs. The hydrocarbon production of the Group remained stable over the previous year, due to investments and previous findings, which offset a natural decline and the current low level of investment. As a result of the planned repairs of key gas wells in Romania, the hydrocarbon production decreased by 3%.

“In partnership with ExxonMobil, we continued the exploration activities in Neptune Deep Block: this year we completed four wells and began drilling in the fifth. We will continue to adjust our activity level while maintaining a sound financial position. Moreover, as emphasized in the past, future investments remain dependent on the favorable fiscal and regulatory framework to stabilize long-term investments and adequate market fundamentals,” said Mariana Gheorghe.

Keeping oil prices at a low level over a long period may cause a decline in hydrocarbon production of the company by up to 4% per year, say Petrom representatives.

“A market environment with low oil prices over a prolonged period could reduce the annual average investment in Upstream by approximately 25-35% compared to 2014. Therefore, in the medium term, the hydrocarbon production in Romania could fall average by 4% per year,” says OMV Petrom, the income in the report of the first nine months.

The company will make this year investments of about one billion euros, down by 30% compared to those in 2014, of which over 85% will be dedicated to upstream projects.